


Expectations

by Faesapphic



Series: Plot Bunnies [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Lonely Harry Potter, POV Alternating, Slytherin Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 09:58:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20274076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faesapphic/pseuds/Faesapphic
Summary: Theodore Nott always had a list of expectations, usually everything met said expectations. Yet, Theo never fails to find one thing that never meets his expectations and he always has the urge to investigate why.Harry Potter isn't what everyone expected him to be.





	Expectations

When Theodore Nott entered Hogwarts for the first time, he had many expectations, they ranged from the environment of the school, the types of teachers that he will be exposed to and how other students will act. Overall many have met his expectations, of course his father told him a lot about Hogwarts including where to go to get the best view of the sunset and which Professors would be most trust worthy, Theo also knew that Slytherins weren’t that well liked thanks to the Dark Lord, there were many misconceptions about Slytherins, Theo just scoffed at the rumours, all he wanted to do was learn and graduate from Hogwarts with the highest marks he can possibly achieve.

It was his Seventh year now and everything was well, especially with the Dark Lord being defeated on that famous Halloween night, everyone is relaxed and nothing bad has truly happened in the years throughout his Hogwarts education, the only upsets mainly occurred within Hogwarts itself and even then, the most severe was a werewolf Professor. Theo liked it when things met his expectations and predictions, it meant that he didn’t had to prepare himself for something unexpected, he could just relax and be himself in any environment or have a suitable mask on much like the other Slytherin students. However, there was always one thing on Theo’s expectation list that didn’t meet what he thought would happen, this just happened to be Harry Potter, the Boy-who-lived, the one to defeat Lord Voldemort as a baby and bring peace amongst the wizarding world.

Harry Potter was definitely not what he expected at all, Theo expected a boy who was proud of himself, enjoyed the celebrity status and overall be your typical spoilt young celebrity but nothing too arrogant and stuck up. Potter was none of those, for starters when Theo first saw Potter, he didn’t even recognise him, Potter was small for his age, by the state of his trainers, Theo knew that the clothes underneath the robes weren’t the highest quality and barely looked after. Theo didn’t even know it was Harry Potter until his name was called out, he wasn’t affected by the whispered but the first thing that surprised Theo was the fact that Potter was sorted into Slytherin. After he was sorted, a few students whispered more than before, Theo could see the Weasley family look betrayed, which was odd considering that Potter didn’t seem to be talking to the youngest of the family, maybe it was because the Weasley’s were close to the Potters? Who knows.

Theo could only watch as the small boy walked to the table clad in a rich green, sitting down next to Pansy Parkinson, not speaking to anyone, not even looking up from his lap, Theo could tell that Potter was barely even interested in his food, concentrating more on picking at the food instead of eating it. 

As the years passed, Theo tried to forget about Potter, most of the other students did, yet Theo couldn’t help but observe him, his curiosity was peaked, and he had to find the root of why he was so curious. Despite Potter’s fame and past, he wasn’t much different to anyone else, the boy never stood out in class, never answered questions, he just tended to stick to the side-lines. If Theo was being completely honest, he wasn’t even that extraordinary at magic, it would take Potter a few tries more than everyone else to get the correct results from the spell. It was odd, many people expected the saviour of the wizarding world to be boisterous and rowdy like his father, yet he was the complete opposite. 

In Third, Fourth and Fifth year, Theo noticed that Potter would disappear after dinners and didn’t come back until early morning, 2am being the latest he would arrive back into the dorms, Theo was a light sleeper and would wake up from the door opening. It only concerned Theo more and after talking to the others, no one knew where he went, not even Pansy knew, and she knew everything. It wasn’t like Potter was bullied, everyone In Slytherin treated him like a regular human being, those who had relatives as Death Eaters knew that Voldemort was unhinged, and they were all thankful that he is gone for good. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs never bothered with Harry, the Gryffindors did kick up a fuss at first but it slowly died down to very subtle scowls, how typical.

It wasn’t until Theo’s sixth year that he finally found out where the mysterious student went, it was by accident too. Theo had suffered a rare nightmare, leaving the Slytherin Dungeons, he headed up to the Astronomy Tower for some fresh air and a way to relax, he didn’t expect to find Harry there. Theo hesitated at the entrance to the balcony, staring at the student who was hugging his knees, staring into the night sky. At first Theo didn’t want to interrupt so he just left and walked back to the Slytherin dorms. But, Theo just continued to return to the tower to stare at Harry for a few minutes before walking away.

A few months of that and Theo changed his tactics, instead of just staring at the other, Theo walked over to the other pillar parallel to the one Harry was leaning against and sitting down to read a book he had brought with him. They never talked to one another, they just sat in complete silence, Theo often glanced up to see what Harry was doing but it was always the same.

That’s when Theo realised something, Harry was isolated. Harry never made friends, never had any friends who he would talk to in class or at breaks, Theo always saw Harry alone with a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was always brooding on something, Theo didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know how to deal with these types of situations so he just stayed quiet and hoped for the best.

Even halfway through his final year, Theo didn’t notice that much difference, he continued to head up to the Astronomy Tower to read his book and occasionally glance at Harry, he could often hear the odd sniff from the other boy, but Theo just believed it to be the cold. It was a shame that Theo never saw the silent tears that fell down Harry’s cheeks, maybe it would’ve made Theo realise that Harry needed help. 

Loneliness can do a lot to a person, it can destroy you from the inside out, but no one ever focused on Harry after they realised that he wasn’t what everything thought he would be, no one realised how alone Harry was and how desperate he was to have a friend. Every night since the start of his habit, Harry would climb to the top of the Astronomy Tower, hug his knees and stared into the night, wishing, praying for someone to be friends with him. When Theo started to arrive, Harry was ecstatic, but he soon realised that he didn’t know how to make friends, Harry was silently glad that Theo never talked, he wouldn’t know how to respond to such an act. All Harry wanted in his life was someone to talk to, everyone ignored him, which is what Harry wants overall but what Harry didn’t want was this isolation, he felt like he was just a ghost. He heard what people whispered behind his back, how he was nothing like his father and not that good with the whole magic thing. 

It was graduation, all the seventh years were excited to finally leave Hogwarts for good and get into the careers they wanted to badly, Harry wish he could share the same feelings, when his name was called out to collect his scroll, he noticed how the expressions on each person’s face changed, some held shock and some held confusion, it seemed like they had forgotten he was a student after all. Harry just gently takes the elegant scroll out of Dumbledore’s hand, not noticing the sad look the Headmaster gave him, Harry didn’t give a speech, he just walked off and left the Great Hall, he got what he wanted. What Harry didn’t expect was to walk literally, into Theodore Nott, he scrambled to pick up the other’s scroll which fell onto the ground, handing it back to what he guess he could class as a friend.

“Thank you, Harry” Theo said softly, taking the scroll from Harry, it was the first time someone had ever talked to Harry directly, shocked would be an understatement to describe what Harry was feeling. He was tense from the ordeal, quickly shaking himself back to reality and re-evaluating his plans, he decided to digress a bit.  
“No…” Harry’s voice was quiet and raspy from disuse “Thank you, Theo... thank you for being there for me. It means a lot” Once he said what he wanted, Harry quickly pushed past the taller boy, not giving him a chance to respond, Harry knew that many had forgotten what he sounded like and it probably surprised Theo that he even made something more than a sigh.

Harry just ignored that train of thought as he aimed for his favourite location, the Astronomy Tower. He guessed he could even class it has a home since he spent so much time sat on the balcony watching the stars. Harry knew he had no real future, too many people had certain expectations for him and he didn’t know what to do as a job anyway. As he reached the top, he slowly walked to the railings, glancing out at the summer’s day but ignoring the pretty sight, instead he focused on his results. Harry opened the scroll in his hands, his own expectations weren’t that high, just as he expected, his results were mediocre at best, only just passing his subjects. Harry just let out a weak sigh, placing the scroll flat on the floor, using a sticking charm to keep it there even though there was no wind.

Harry had his own expectations of many things, this new world that he was introduced to had particular ones, he expected that his entire life would change, he expected that he would get friends and be happy. Unlike one other student, nothing met Harry’s expectations, there would always be one that did though, there was one that finally met it. Harry knew he expected to die at a young age. Harry ignored the tears falling down his cheeks, dripping from his jaw line, he ignored the happy cheers coming from inside the castle. Harry Potter takes in one last deep breath, readying himself to do one more thing that was of course not what people would expect, he guessed that’s what he is now expected to do, to be not what you expected.

One thing that was for certain, Theodore Nott didn’t expect to be sat at his dining room table clenching the Daily Prophet tightly, what he expected today was to wake up at 6am, eat his breakfast in peace and get started on acquiring himself a part time job. Yet all Theo could do was stare at the newspaper, not expecting to feel tears escape his eyes. He hadn’t cried since he was a toddler when he fell off his training broom. All Theo could do was stare at the headline and picture in shock, thoughts running through his mind rapidly, he could’ve done something, he could’ve helped.

But no one expected this, nobody expected to read the Daily Prophet only to discover that Harry Potter, saviour of the wizarding world, defeater of the Dark Lord Voldemort, had taken his life on the same day he graduated. The Headmaster certainly didn’t expect to find Harry’s cold, still body laying awkwardly on the cobble floor at the bottom of the Astronomy Tower, blood slowly seeping through the tattered robes.

Harry Potter certainly didn’t meet everyone’s expectations.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick little oneshot with an idea that popped up in my mind, if there's any problems with grammar please comment about them.
> 
> I have no beta.
> 
> I hope I did angst correctly oof


End file.
